In New York, people line up for good deli. They stand in the snow, rain or blazing sun in front of the Stage, Carnegie or Second Avenue, waiting for mile-high pastrami sandwiches or crusty bagels with lox.

So it has always surprised me that with all the East Coast transplants hereabouts, it was hard to find a decent bagel.

Sure, there are reasons. People say it's the water, that New York's is somehow better geared to bagel-making; some suspect that local bakeries steam their bagels, which is, well, suspect.

When I was a kid, my dad and I would make special trips to New York from Baltimore ostensibly to visit family, but really to fill our trunk with fresh bagels -- 12 dozen, to be exact. We'd munch some on the way back home and then stick the rest in the freezer.

When I heard rumors that Miller's East Coast West Delicatessen on Polk Street had real New York bagels -- unlike the ones bagel sellers advertise as N.Y.-style -- I sped over.

East comes West

Larry Abel, who recently bought 3-year-old East Coast West and added the moniker "Miller's," owns Miller's Deli just outside my hometown. Chef and managing partner Robby Morgenstein, also from Baltimore, worked with Abel to create the classic deli menu of hefty sandwiches, sturdy hot plates, soups and, yes, real New York bagels.

The bagels are dense, crusty, slightly gnarled and, at 99 cents apiece, expensive. That's because they are shipped from New York. Boiled and partially baked in the Big Apple, Miller's finishes them off in its own ovens. And they're worth every penny.

You can get your bagel with a cream-cheese schmear or with one of the many excellent fish platters. These come in several traditional varieties, including nova, whitefish, smoked sturgeon and several types of herring. Smoked-fish neophytes might try smoked whitefish salad ($10.99), a mix of flaky, slightly smoky whitefish, green onions and a little garlic. Miller's version has a slight tang and not too much oil. Nova ($12.99), a cold-smoked salmon otherwise known as lox, is mild and buttery.

If one type of fish isn't enough, the premium fish combo platter ($16.99) offers a choice of up to three fish items. The huge plates are adorned with cucumbers, tomato slices and onion and easily feed two. Just order an extra bagel.

At Miller's, the nova also goes into a unique version of matzoh brei (pronounced bry), which is matzoh broken up and scrambled with eggs. Morgenstein's version ($7.99) throws in loads of lox and a splotch of sour cream.

Sandwiches at Miller's are crammed with meat, East Coast style. The peppery pastrami, which is flown in from the Bronx, is sliced paper thin and ribboned with fat that renders it meltingly tender.

A favorite, revisited

A mix of pastrami and chopped liver is one of my favorites, and on the Buddha ($10.99) Morgenstein adds vinegary coleslaw and Russian dressing, and serves it on sturdy Jewish rye bread. The chopped liver is slightly creamy with chunks of egg and onion.

The Rachael ($9.99) pairs hot pastrami with sauerkraut and Russian dressing, just like its corned-beef cousin, the Rueben ($9.99). The half-sour pickle retains that fresh cucumber snap and has a nice briny bite.

Brisket ($9.99) is usually holiday food for me, but here it's served year- round. The beef finishes in a thick, meaty gravy until it practically falls apart, but it could use much less salt.

The gravy also shows up on the side dish of kasha varnishkes ($3.49), one of my favorite comfort foods. Bow-tie pasta is tossed with toasted, slightly chewy buckwheat groats, a hearty and very earthy grain. Here, the gravy detracted from the nuttiness of the groats.

Aiming for authenticity

You know Miller's is shooting for authenticity when it serves stuffed derma ($5.99), an Old-World relic even by New York standards. Traditionally, derma is a beef intestine into which filling, or kishke, is stuffed. Usually this is vegetarian and made with matzoh meal, onions and seasoning. Miller's skips the derma part and instead fries little patties with crisp tops but pasty middles.

Miller's latkes ($5.99), or potato pancakes, are similarly well done on the outside with mushy insides, as if they hadn't been cooked all the way through. The latkes are served with the traditional applesauce and sour cream.

Better are the potato knishes ($3.29), a popular item sold at delis and hot dog carts in New York. The slightly doughy crust hugs a filling of mashed- potatoes or spinach in a hand-held treat convenient for picnics and ball games.

At home, we fight over my aunt's stuffed cabbage, so I was excited to see a version on the menu at Miller's. Unfortunately, both the sweet-and-sour stuffed cabbage ($5.99) and the cabbage soup ($3.99) were too sweet.

The dessert list features many varieties of cheesecake and other New York sweets like the black and white cookie ($1.99). With its yin-yang icing, this lemony, cakelike cookie never fails to delight. Wash it down with an old- fashioned chocolate egg cream ($2.29), which does not contain egg -- never has -- and is made with Fox's U-Bet syrup, as it should be.

Sticklers might complain that the service at Miller's isn't surly enough to be legitimately East Coast, but some concessions must be made to California custom. The bare-bones 50-seat dining room gets crowded, especially for brunch, but the food comes out quickly.

Sit in Miller's over a crowded brunch, watching two older men spouting Yiddish over the last bite of stuffed cabbage, and you'll understand why this deli stands apart. It's just like back home.

My dad will be happy he doesn't have to fly me to Brooklyn to find legitimate bagels. And I'm pleased I don't have to stand out in the snow for decent deli.